Moving On
by demonpixie1
Summary: "The X-Men had survived Apocalypse. Barely." Moving on after such tragedy isn't quite so easy. Takes place immediately following Ascension Pt.2. LancexOC. Sorry if you like Kitty, but I'm killing her off. You've been warned.
1. Chapter 1

The Xmen had survived Apocalypse. Barely.

But what none of them had counted on was the hatred they now encountered.

Charles Xavier was forced to pull his remaining students out of public schools for their own safety, after Amara Aquilla was beaten to almost unrecognizeability. The remaining members of the Brotherhood joined the Xmen, wholeheartedly agreeing with the sentiment that there was safety in numbers. Until there wasn't.

Exactly six months to the day after the defeat of Apocalypse, Katherine Pryde was gunned down near the front gates of the Xavier Institute when she'd only gone to get the mail. She was three months pregnant and her fiancé, Lance Alvers, was inconsolable.

While the Institute mourned, Congress passed the Mutant Registration Act. S.H.I.E.L.D was forced to follow orders and Colonel Fury himself led the team that went to the Xavier Institute, expecting resistance, and found none. In a gesture of goodwill, Xavier and his pupils and staff complied and were fingerprinted, had blood samples taken, were photographed, and tattooed with their identification numbers.

Losing his faith in humanity, Lance left the Institute, soon followed by Logan, Rogue, Gambit, Tabitha and Ray, who no longer felt safe within the gates of the mansion. Amara and Rahne Sinclair were pulled home by their parents since the majority of anti-mutant sentiment seemed to be on American soil, and it was felt that they were safer overseas. Wanda and Pietro left to try and attempt to have a normal life with their father in the developing mutant-run nation of Genosha, as far from Bayville as possible.

Disheartened by the loss of so many in such a short time, then later followed by the sudden and painful loss of Jean Grey to the Phoenix force, the Xmen withdrew, and while they mourned and tried to get on with their lives, anti-mutant sentiment was growing.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Twenty-six months later….

Lance Alvers sighed irritatedly at the televisions at the Toledo airport, as the reporter described the recent murder of a middle school girl, a mutant who could create tornados, by several high schoolers.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, even as the woman in the seat next to him glanced nervously at his wrist, specifically the tattoo, so reminiscent of WWII concentration camps, reading "M-A-00193" signifying he was a mutant, and an Alpha level one, as powerful as the Professor or Magneto if he wanted. He was oddly proud of that, even if it was mostly based on potential rather than what he'd actually done.

He ignored the woman next to him as she moved to a seat farther away; he was used to it after all. People distancing themselves, the glances of fear, the whispers, hell, even the airports to some extent. He had no idea what he was looking for, only that every time, every city, when he'd saved up the money for a plane ticket, he was gone, off to wherever was boarding as soon as possible. He didn't bullshit himself, he knew it was because it kept him from getting close to anyone, but he just couldn't. Not since Kitten.

Lance was jarred from these painful thoughts by a body thudding into the vacated seat beside him, exactly the kind of girl he didn't need to see right now: Petite, maybe just over five feet, with honeyed dark brown hair. He glanced over at legs, slim and perfectly proportioned, clad in chunky motorcycle boots over tight dark blue jeans, followed them up and over a slightly exposed, well-toned midsection, a tight blue t-shirt under a well-worn leather jacket and finally up to a pair of electrifying blue eyes that met his dead on.

"Take a picture." She advised dryly, "It'll last a helluva lot longer than I plan on staying."

And for the first time in over two years, Lance actually cracked a smile, "Sorry." He mumbled, suddenly feeling awkward, and then offered his hand, "I'm Lance."

She stared at his hand for a few seconds, one eyebrow raised, then slid her hand into his, "Alice."

As she pulled her hand back, he caught a glimpse of familiar tattooing along her wrist, and froze, reading it, "M-A-69643" She followed his gaze and similarly froze, then yanked her hand away, "I- I'm sorry. I should go…"

She grabbed the handle of her bag and stood and Lance, who had spent two years trying not to connect with people, stood, reached out instinctively and grabbed her wrist, "No! Don't- You're not- It's- I'm a mutant too."

She half turned back towards him and he offered his wrist for her inspection. Her eyebrows shot up again as she looked, "You're an Alpha-class?"

He winced, "Yeah. Mostly based on potential thought, not what I've actually done."

She smiled, a bright smile he couldn't help but return, "You're the second Alpha I've met, not counting myself. What can you do?"

He chuckled at her exuberance, "I create earthquakes and seismic waves and I can manipulate the earth to do what I want, but that part's pretty new. You?" He asked as their flight was called and they each gathered their bags and got in line.

She tapped her temple with one slim finger, "I'm a telekinetic with minor telepathy. Not near Xavier status though, I can't force people to do anything against their will."

His eyes widened, "You know the Prof?"

Alice shook her head, "Not personally. I've just heard a lot about him and I'm hoping he can help me. Is that where you're headed too?"

Lance winced again, "I- Not exactly. I didn't even know I was headed to New York."

She looked at him curiously and he answered the unasked question, "You could say I've been running from my past for the past few years. This is the closest to home I've been in a while."

She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when a portly man with two carry-on bags bumped her into the wall of the terminal; she landed on her ass on the ground. Lance paused and offered her a hand up, she took it and this time Lance felt it, a spark, a flare of energy that he was almost unsure if he'd dreamed it or not. She pulled her hand away with deliberate slowness and smiled up at him, "Want to sit with me on the plane?"

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Five and a half hours later Lance found himself in a cab bound for the Xavier Institute, completely unsure of how he'd gotten to that point, although it obviously had something to do with Alice, who'd asked if it would be too much trouble for him to at least make sure she got there alright, and he'd been completely unable to say no.

"Are you sure you're not doing the mental-nudge thing on me?" He asked, "Because I was not ever planning on coming back here."

She rolled her eyes at him, and informed him, "Sometimes the universe has a plan for you to be somewhere whether you planned on it or not. I think I was destined to sit next to you in that airport and bring you back here."

He groaned, "But what if I don't _want_ to be here?"

She smirked at him, the smirk that after less than an entire day drove him crazy, although he wasn't sure if it was crazy in the I-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face kind of way or the I-want-to-rip-your-clothes-off-and-have-you-right-here-right-now variety, and given the events of the day it could be either: He was undeniably attracted to the spunky brunette and the more time he spent with her the less she looked like Kitty, which could only be a good thing, right?

Her smirk grew and she added, "And sometimes where you need to be is not necessarily where you _want_ to be."

The car pulled up the familiar drive before he could retort and Lance gulped, suddenly unsure of the welcome he'd receive. The car stopped in front of the steps and his stomach flip-flopped to see two very familiar faces waiting on the steps: Ororo and Logan. Alice was already out of the cab and introducing herself while he paused and slowly exited as well, grabbing Alice's forgotten bag, _Here goes, _he thought to himself.

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

**A/N: No, I am absolutely not trying a Madelyne Pryor-type storyline. Alice is not a clone of Kitty and unlike Marvel when I kill someone they STAY dead. Sorry to any Kitty fans out there, but I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to her and Lance, I think for them to work she'd have to have a much darker history than Evo gave her, ergo Lance needs to find someone else (Which I can't bring myself to do while Kitty's ALIVE yet) OR I need to write a darker history for Kitty, which I'm working on for another piece, but I didn't feel like causing her unnecessary pain today, thus I killed her off.**

**As far as this story goes: I plan on it being my first multi-chaptered fic, but I'm still working on Chapter 2, so no promises on when it'll be posted- hopefully I can manage in the next week or so.**


	2. Chapter 2

Storm was welcoming Alice and he saw Logan notice him first, tapping Storm on the shoulder and pointing her in Lance's direction as he started up the steps. She paused in surprise and then her face broke into a dazzling smile and she moved down the stairs to embrace him tightly, "Welcome home Lance."

He smiled back, suddenly relieved it wasn't the awkward homecoming he'd imagined in the cab.

Logan growled his own greeting, "So how do you know our newest addition?" He asked in clear reference to Alice.

Alice grinned, "We sat next to each other on the flight from Toledo."

Ororo's brow furrowed, "Toledo? I thought you were heading for California?"

Lance suddenly felt seventeen again, being scolded for skipping class, "I did. Then New Orleans, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Memphis, Detroit, Miami, Phoenix, Dallas and Portland."

Storm raised her eyebrows, on the verge of commenting, when a red-shirted blur raced out the doors and slammed into Lance, "Lance!" Jamie yelled, stumbling backwards. No longer a terrified ten-year-old, Jamie had matured somewhat into a slightly gawky twelve-year-old, who was currently trying to squeeze any and all air out of Lance.

"Hey kid." He managed, prying Jamie away long enough to look at him and realize that despite the impact there was still only one Jamie, _Huh. I guess things do change when you're gone for two years…_

And then he heard an explosion from the back of the house followed by a voice asking if anyone knew where the fire extinguisher was and Logan, grumbling started for the back of the house, _and some things never do._

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Lance had been home for a few days and oddly enough spent most of it in Alice's company. Odd for him because in the space of a few days they'd slipped into… _something_. They had something for sure. More than camaraderie, but also less than a full-blown seeing-each-other sort of thing. And Lance hadn't gotten this close to anyone since he'd left, so after almost two years it was a very odd situation. He'd mentioned it to Alice, who'd seemed hurt at first, until he'd squeezed her hand (and when had that happened? He was _never_ okay being physically close to someone, even with Kitty, but having Alice hold his hand or sit close to him or even sit on his lap as he caught up with the remaining New Mutants as she had yesterday had all been taken in stride.) and told her it for sure wasn't a bad thing.

On his eighth morning at the institute, he was relaxing in the library with a cup of coffee and his guitar when he heard the roar of a motorcycle pulling into the driveway, and, knowing full well that Logan was running a training session for some of the newer students, decided to investigate. He arrived at the front door as Ororo was opening it and moving to greet their guests, who turned out to be Rogue and Gambit, both embracing the weather-witch, though Rogue seemed distracted. He hesitated a moment before moving forward, smiling to say hello, Rogue noticed him and he completely missed the clear fury on her face and mistook her approach for a greeting.

Gambit glanced at Ororo, wincing in sympathy, "Poor boy has no idea what he's in for."

Lance, for his part was a few feet from Rogue, opening his mouth to say hi, when her right hand pulled back and slapped him viciously across the face. Lance reeled.

"Ow! Rogue, what the hell?" He yelled, surprised and angry.

She shoved his shoulder, "Don't you 'what the hell?' me Lance Dominic Alvers! You show up after freaking disappearing for two years - _two years!_ - And when you finally decide to grace us with your freaking presence, because _by the way_ we weren't ALL grieving and it completely doesn't suck that you left when we needed you! No! You show the hell back up here - _here!_ - Where _she _died! With some random psychic hussy and not only are you suddenly back in our lives but you've _moved on?_ What the hell is wrong with you?" She screeched at him.

Lance winced, repeatedly, as he let her scream herself out. They stared at each other for a moment and then he sighed, "Rogue. That's… Well I could say none of it's true, but I probably did runaway when you needed me. And yeah, I'm back, but Alice and I aren't together. We met on the flight to New York, and she convinced me to come back here even though I wasn't planning on it."

Rogue looked at him skeptically, tapping her foot and he continued, "But we're just friends right now because being back here is like I never left and it hurts just as bad as it did before and no way am I ready to move on, but when I am I know I have the right to be happy, dammit!"

Rogue sighed, "I just- I thought you were disrespecting her memory, acting like she'd never existed and showing up with some girl who's apparently wrapped around you all the time and I know _I'm_ still grieving so how could you suddenly be okay? And I hate that you could have resisted just being happy with _her_ for almost three years, but you can show up and just be so happy, so in tune with this girl and then I was like why couldn't my best friend - my sister - make you that happy?"

Lance ran a hand through his hair, "Rogue. She made me so happy and I was waiting to marry her – I couldn't wait to make her mine, but you have to understand Rogue: Kitty died. She was killed and there is nothing we can do to bring her back and yeah, we need to do what should have happened two years ago and grieve and let her go, 'cause I think you and I both need that."

Rogue looked up at him and sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry." and offered her hand to shake in truce, which Lance ignored and instead used to pull her into a hug.

Just then a voice called from the steps, "Lance? Jamie said you were out here. You still down to watch Lord of the Rings with me?" Alice slowly made her way down the steps, dressed today a bit more elegantly than she had been on the flight in skinny jeans under a light, pale blue tunic shirt and (Lance's favorite part) a pair of electric blue patent pumps, with four inch heels that made her legs look miles long. Literally, a pair of come-fuck-me shoes. Good God. Yes, he was _definitely,_ undeniably attracted to her.

Rogue raised and eyebrow at his dumbstruck face and muttered, "Nothing huh?"

She bounced across to him, tipping her head slightly, birdlike and smiling at Rogue, even as she seemingly unconsciously slid her fingers into Lance's, "Hi." She extended her other hand, "I'm Alice. Are you Kitty?"

Rogue and Lance both jumped, and Rogue gave Lance a look, "She doesn't know?" she asked dryly.

Lance sighed, "I hadn't gotten around to it yet…" he muttered.

Rogue turned her attention back to Alice, who looked confused, "Nah, sweetheart, I'm not Kitty." she told her sadly, "Why would you think that?"

Alice frowned at Lance first before answering, "Lance was muttering her name in his sleep yesterday."

Rogue nodded, then gave Lance another raised eyebrow that Alice caught, "Oh no!" told Rogue, "nothing like _that_. We were watching a movie and he fell asleep and started talking. I assumed Kitty was important to him and since you're the first person besides Ororo that he's hugged since we got here..."

Lance gave Alice's hand a squeeze before pulling away to greet Gambit and she waited until he was beyond hearing distance before turning to Rogue and asking, "Nobody around here will tell me who Kitty is. Can you please explain before I really fuck things up with Lance and say something I shouldn't about her?"

Rogue glanced down before making sure Lance was out of hearing distance and answering, "Kitty was… She was Lance's first love. Like true love, Romeo-and-Juliet, love-at-first-sight, perfect in an opposites-attract kind of way. You could see it when they looked at each other, that despite everything they would be together forever even though he was with the Brotherhood and worked for Magneto and they were our rivals in this whole mutant thing, but he would have given it all up for her. And after the whole Apocalypse thing- You know was that was right?"

She glanced at Alice for an answer and received a nod and continued, "So after the Apocalypse thing the Brotherhood moved in here – safety in numbers since the world was feeling pretty anti-mutant right then – They moved in and of course Kitty got pregnant. But they were really happy and excited and he dragged me ring shopping for Christ's sake!"

She realized she was getting upset and paused, "Sorry. Kitty was my best friend for a long time and some of this still hurts."

Alice gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, encouraging Rogue to continue, "So he was ring shopping and they were waiting on a baby and so happy and everything was perfect. Until this day – She was three months along about – She goes out to get the mail at the end of the driveway, grabs it, turns around and some anti-mutant sniper put a bullet in the back of her head."

She heard Alice gasp, and continued doggedly, "So Kitty's dead, Lance is a wreck and decides in the middle of the damn night to go travel the country, 'get his head together' that kind of thing, so he leaves. Leaves a note not to look for him and bailed when we – when _I_ – needed him to help me grieve and deal."

Alice gave Rogue a wry frown, "And you got the impression she'd been replaced."

Rogue shrugged, "Well… Yeah. I mean here he's gone for more than two years, and then shows back up with you and I didn't want him disrespecting her like that."

Alice nodded, "I wouldn't _want_ to do that either. I-" she hesitated, "I knew when we first talked that he was broken, somehow, but I didn't know it was as bad as a dead fiancé he's never grieved for. Shit."

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in… a week? Two? Idk, but it's been a while, so here's a piece (and it's short too! Darnit!) to tide you over. **

**Reviews are appreciated! **

**(Really, I try to reply in person to all of them.)**

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Lance was confused to say the least. Girls- _women _- had always confused him. And apparently Alice was no different.

In the hours since Gambit and Rogue's arrival she'd suddenly disappeared and he'd been seemingly kidnapped by Rogue (to Remy's amusement) who wanted to know every single thing he'd done in the last two years.

Finally managing to escape, Lance made his way down the third floor hallway to the secluded balcony where he knew he'd find Alice and indeed found her, seated on the wide railing, leaned against the house, watching the sunset, cigarette in hand.

He moved outside to lean against the railing by her foot, and waited.

She took a drag, blew the smoke out over her shoulder and glanced at him, "What do you want Rocky?"

Lance shrugged, "I dunno. You tell me. You're the one hiding out here."

This time she blew the smoke at him, "I'm good Lance. Just needed some space."

"Bullshit." He said flatly, "What's on your mind Alice?"

She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him and took another drag before she spoke, "Were you ever gonna tell me about your dead fiancé? Or the baby on the way? Or was I just supposed to try and live in her shadow and never know who she was? She broke you Lance! Every-goddamm-body can see it except you and I'm not gonna stick around while you try to pretend I'm _her_. Fuck that. I'm out of here."

She threw down her cigarette and slid off the railing, moving towards the house and Lance reached out an arm to grab her, "Don't." He said softly, looking down at her, "I- I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Kitty okay? I was scared, and how the hell are you supposed to explain that to someone? 'The girl I was in love with died and she was pregnant with my kid when it happened and I still don't know how to deal so I bailed on the friends and family who needed me and spent two years travelling around the country for no reason besides not dealing with her death.' How would you have taken that?"

She glared up at him, "I would have understood Lance! Fuck! Here I was letting myself fall for a guy who doesn't even know he's emotionally unavailable and can't even tell me _why_!"

Lance opened his mouth to retort and paused, "Falling for me huh?" He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning slowly.

She actually growled at him, poking him in the chest for emphasis, "Focus, Loverboy! I'm still mad at you."

He sighed, still not understanding women, "And why is that?"

"Because-" Alice paused, "Because I should have heard it from _you_. Not Rogue. Because I should know exactly whose shoes everyone's gonna accuse me of trying to fill."

Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Look, Al, I- I've never been good with words, you know? But I'm scared to move on because it feels like an insult to her memory, like I'm trying to replace her or something. But I'm not. I know you're not her, you're not even close to her and I love that because I'm scared to _not_ move on because it'd be an insult to everything Kit stood for to be lonely and angry forever and I think you're pretty fucking amazing. But I'm nowhere near ready to start anything serious with you or anybody."

Alice nodded, blue eyes boring into his brown ones, "I understand. But I need you to not shut me out okay?"

He nodded and then, apparently deciding to change the subject, "You wanna go watch that movie now?"

She grinned up at him, "Sure."

He moved away and started back for the house, only to be pulled to a halt by Alice, "Lance…"

He turned, "Ye-" He was interrupted by her standing on tiptoe to press her lips softly to his and surprised himself when he kissed her back for a long moment. She pulled away first, "When you're ready, you remember that kiss," she informed him, then shoved past him and into the house.

Lance paused for a moment, stunned, and then, in response to her shouting to him from down the hall, "Coming?" he strode into the house, shoving his hands into his pockets and whistling a jaunty tune.

Maybe coming home really wasn't so bad.

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**A/N: IDK why, but I'm intensely proud of the way this scene came out, I think it's the perfect mix of angstyness with a little fluff at the end to tide ya'll over. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry for the lack of update and the shortness of this chapter! Really, I got sidetracked and ended up writing a Lancitty one-shot (Shameless promotion: "One AM in a Lonely Coffeehouse") And this got sort of forgotten. And there are no promises with when it'll get updated next. Sorry. I don't like where I had the next chapter going, if you have any ideas write a review or PM me. **

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Should he be this nervous? Was it normal to be this nervous? Lance Alvers was nervous about very few things, but then this meeting was more than two years overdue.

So he should probably be a little nervous.

Lance gulped and made sure his tie was on right in the mirror, before grabbing the bouquet sitting on his bed and heading downstairs.

He made his way carefully out the kitchen door and down the path that lead to the gazebo, which he bypassed and followed the path behind instead, past the familiar cluster of trees and around a bend in the hillside, to the small cluster of headstones in a clearing.

He stood, gazing at the names of the people he'd known so well: "Jean Grey – Samuel Guthrie – Todd Tolensky – and finally, Katherine "Kitty" Pryde ~ "Who saw the world with the innocence of a kitten, but lived with the ferocity of the fully grown cat" and just behind hers, nearly invisible unless you looked for it, the headstone of Carmen Jason Pryde-Alvers. Their son, who'd died with his mother, though Rogue had insisted he deserved his tribute too, and here it was.

This hurt. This hurt like a bitch.

He sighed and gently placed the flowers – white roses – on Kitty's grave, pulling out one flower for Carmen, before standing back and gazing at them for a moment.

It was quiet for long moments before he spoke, "Hey Kit. I – I know it's been a while since I visited. I kinda… took off after the funeral… Didn't wanna stick around and be reminded of what I lost. I miss you. I spent every day of more than two years missing you Kit. You and Carmen and where we would've been right now. I'm sorry I left. I know if you were here I'd never hear the end of it, but I just – I never learned how to cope and losing you still hurts." He was quiet for several moments, just staring at the grey marble, willing the words to erase and time to spin backwards so that he wouldn't be here, now, talking to his fiancé's headstone.

A tear slipped out, followed by another, and another and finally the flood he'd been holding off for twenty-eight months, "Godammit Kit." He sobbed, "Why? Why you? Why then? Why the hell did I let you go? I hate you for leaving me like this! You hear me? I hate you! Because you're gone. You – the walking ray of sunshine – _you_'re gone and _I_'m still here. How fair is that? I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat Kit, I love you so much and it's gonna hurt for a long time."

Lance fell to his knees and sobbed for long moments, staring brokenly at the graves for what felt like hours. He finally slowly pulled himself to his feet and spoke again, "I love you Kitty. And… I'll be back to visit again soon." He started the long walk back up to the house.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: HUGE HUGE apologies for the late update, school caught up to me and then I've been sick and… Anyway, here's an update, and it's even got some action to it. =) (Not quite the kind Lance'd like, but close enough ;) )**

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"Rocky." Lance heard Logan growl behind him later in the afternoon as he made his way to the kitchen, "Hold up a minute."

"Yeah?" He turned to face Logan, resisting the urge to blurt, 'Whatever it was, I didn't do it.' Like he once would have, and instead went with the less incriminating, "What's up Logan?"

Logan caught up with him, "Need a favor kid."

Despite knowing far better than that, he was startled into immediately answering, "Sure. What do you need?"

Logan chuckled and handed him one of the black spandex training suits, "Need to see how your little psychic friend does hand-to-hand before I start figuring how to train her. You're her first sparring partner. Suit up. And be in the Danger Room in ten." He informed Lance before continuing down the hall.

Lance entered the DR the required ten minutes later in his old "Avalanche" suit instead, (minus that stupid fruit bowl he used to wear on his head… And those damn shoulder pads,) to find the room had been turned into more of a practice studio, with mirrored walls, and padded floors for sparring. Logan grinned at him, "What? Our suit 'aint good enough for you?"

Lance snorted, "It's a little too tight, thanks."

Logan raised his eyebrows, "'T's good enough for her." He nodded behind Lance, who turned to find Alice in an *ahem* _modified_ version of the recruit's training uniform: she'd kept the dark blue spandex, but replaced the bright yellow boots and gloves with black leather gloves and black boots that looked military issue, then cut large oval holes in the outer thighs, cut the top to just below her breasts and cut the sleeves to just above her elbows, and was pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she walked, "Hey Logan. Rocky." She said, "Sorry I'm late."

Logan folded his arms, "Actually, you're just on time kid." He motioned for them to take places on the mats in the center of the room, "Rocky, you're trying to take her down any way you can without your powers, she's going to defend herself and take you down, no powers. Let's see what you can do kid."

Alice nodded, stretching her arms to the ceiling, popping her back before taking a defensive stance, weight on her back leg, arms relaxed but ready in front of her.

Lance took the bait and struck the first blow, punching for her face and was deflected, the blocked one of Alice's punches. They traded short blows and kicks for several seconds, before he tried for a leg sweep that she jumped before grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, forcing his elbow up. Lance grunted in discomfort before hooking her leg with his own and yanking her down.

Alice rolled away and back to her feet, this time aiming a high kick at his face that he ducked, grabbing her ankle and pushing her foot straight up into the air, forcing her to overbalance and tumble backwards.

Unfortunately for Lance, Alice rolled backwards with a dancer's grace, ensuring that the body grab he'd gone for missed and he landed on his face, rolling immediately before she could pin him, only to find her on top of him anyway, pinning his wrists over his head and pressing herself to him suggestively. He was definitely going to need a cold shower after this.

Lance bucked, throwing her over his head face-first and flipped a half second faster, grabbing both of her elbows behind her, "Give up yet?"

She positively growled at him, "Not a chance Rocky," and slammed her head back into his face, specifically his nose. Lance saw stars and fell over on his ass, blood running down his face.

"Fuck! Ow! Shit."

Alice had immediately spun to face him and her face twisted in worry, "Oh fuck Lance. I'm so sorry. I was going for your forehead, not your nose! Shitshitshit!"

Logan made his way over with a bundle of paper towels as Alice took a seat behind Lance and pulled his head into her lap, "I'm so sorry." She told him, lower lip wobbling nervously as she took the towels and stemmed the blood flow with one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with her other.

Lance patted her knee with one bloody hand, "Id's do probleb Aliz. I'll be find."

Logan grunted, "No big deal kid, we've had worse here. However, there are some questions we need answered kid."

Alice glanced up at him and nodded before looking back down at Lance.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Logan asked, hands on hips.

Alice refused to look at either man, staying seated with her eyes on the ground even as Lance got to his feet, towels still pressed to his face, instead she whispered to the floor, "Hydra."

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**A/N: Betcha weren't expecting that huh? Bwahahahahaha! *rubs hands together evilly* Trust, I have more twists in mind for this one, this is just the start. As always, reviews are appreciated. =)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry about the late update people. I hope this makes up for it, I'm pretty proud of this chapter anyway. Reviews make me update faster! **

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"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Logan asked, hands on hips.

Alice refused to look at either man, staying seated with her eyes on the ground even as Lance got to his feet, towels still pressed to his face, instead she whispered to the floor, "Hydra."

Both Lance and Logan stared at her, stunned, before Logan broke the silence, "Care to explain that a little deeper Darlin'?"

Alice pulled herself to her feet, "We should have this conversation with Storm and the Professor too." she said softly, "I wanna tell this story as few times as possible."

Fifteen minutes later, Alice and Lance had both showered and made their way to the Professor's office, where they were met by Ororo, Scott, Emma Frost, Logan and his daughter, Laura.

They both took seats as Lance asked, "So we're just waiting on the Prof?"

Logan shook his head, "Prof's over at Muir island with Moira, won't be home for a few days kid, if that. We're it."

Alice nodded, swallowing nervously, "I- I need everybody to not interrupt me, if I stop I don't know if I an start again, okay?"

They all nodded and waited a few moments for her to gather her thoughts. Alice took a deep breath and began, staring out the window and away from everyone,

"I... was a military brat growing up, Dad was an Army Major, so we traveled a lot. It was just me and Dad 'cause Mom died when I was two, but Dad got remarried to _Brenda_ when I was six and when I was seven Dad got deployed for eighteen months. Madame Hydra showed up at our door two months in saying they were retrieving government property, like I wasn't even a person. Apparently when Mom and Dad tried In-Vitro to conceive me, their embryo was replaced with embryo X-27, as were those of twenty-plus other military families who had trouble conceiving. They said they'd take care of us, they said we'd be healthy and get a good education. The reality was somewhat different."

Alice unconsciously reached out and twined her fingers with Lance's for comfort before she continued, "We were trained every day by the best, in combat, tactics, weapons, stealth, and engineering among others. We had to be constantly ready. I- One of my - Instructors, he was a firm believer that if you couldn't protect yourself you didn't deserve protection. . . He used to wake me up in the middle of the night and... Do things, saying if I couldn't throw him off, me! A nine-year-old! He said if I couldn't defend myself then I deserved it."

She broke off, tears trickling down her cheeks, and Lance reached out with his free hand to brush them away, "Alice, you can finish this later if you need to."

She shook her head and impatiently wiped away tears, "I'm fine. So, when were were twelve or so, they started putting us one by one through the "Weapon-X process". After the first four or so left and never came back, several of us got scared and decided to break out. Only Joey and I actually made it out alive. We ran for... Days it felt like, and eventually got picked up by some department of Child Services and separated. I haven't been able to find Joey since. I got placed with a foster family that I stayed with until I was maybe fourteen when my powers manifested. I bounced from foster home to foster home for another two years and ran away when I turned sixteen. I've been on my own ever since. Until about three months ago, two military agents showed up at my apartment and demanded I go with them, since I'm "government property" and all. That's when I decided to come here."

Laura leaned in, "You were part of the Weapon-X cloning attempt?"

Alice nodded, her eyes closed as if she were in pain, "Yeah. They only ever referred to it as Weapon-X and I've never been able to figure out what, exactly, "Weapon-X" was."

There was a snort from Logan, "Kid, _I'm_ Weapon-X. You're _my_ clone. Just like Laura over there."

Alice stared, stunned, "Dammit! Fuck!" She stood up and began pacing, "I've been running from my past since I was twelve, trying to freaking escape HYDRA and their freaking Weapon-X process and I walked right into a trap like this? They probably _knew_ I'd have to come here eventually and sent you here to take me back to HYDRA when I did!"

She whirled and started moving quickly towards the door to escape when Logan placed himself right in her path, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Kid, I never volunteered for the Weapon-X project, and I certainly never gave consent for them to clone my hairy ass. Hell, Laura's an escapee from them too. I don't know how to convince you, but this is a safe place. We'll never make you go back or let them take you back kid, it's home as long as you wanna be here."

Lance moved over tentatively and silently took her hand as Laura moved forward, holding out her hand to shake, "It is... Interesting to meet a sister like this."

Alice smiled weakly, "God, I went from no family to a sister and a... Dad? In half an hour." She let out a watery giggle, feeling slightly hysterical and overemotional.

Laura nodded, still unsmiling, "Unfortunately HYDRA must be stopped. I thought they _had_ been stopped. I failed in my mission. Excuse me, I must begin tracking down their bases and finish my mission."

Logan reached out an arm and caught her before she could leave, "Wrong. You're going to track down Rogue, Nightcrawler, Gambit, and Pyro. This just became an X-Force mission." He began making his way out of the room to gather the troops, "Rocky, Kid, you two are welcome to join us, but decide fast 'cause we're moving out in an hour."

Scott followed Logan out, "Logan wait! You can't just decide to take your team out to settle a personal vendetta on a whim! That's not how we work!"

They listened to Logan growl from down the hall, "The hell I can't. This ain't your personal army Summers, we're here to protect mutant kind and humans and last I checked that includes _both_ of my daughters..." The voices trailed off as they gained distance from the room.

Alice looked around to find the other women had taken their leave as well. She looked over at a stunned looking Lance, "Did you want to go?"

Lance shrugged, "I will if you do, but if you want to stay here then Pyro can do just as good of a job destroying buildings as me."

Alice glanced out the window again, "Would – would you think badly of me for wanting to go? For wanting this little bit of vengeance?"

Lance shook his head, "Not at all. Hell, it might even help with that whole closure thing."

Alice nodded, "Let's go suit up."

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	7. Chapter 7

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"Alright team," Logan said after putting the Blackbird on autopilot, "Laura's found what she thinks is the HYDRA base we're looking for."

"Communication to and from involved former government officials now linked with Hydra: The Von Strucker twins, Viper, and Madame Hydra to name a few." Laura added.

Logan gave her a Look at the interruption, "_Anyway_, the base is in the Rocky Mountains just over the Canadian border from Montana. We're going to enter, confirm that it's a HYDRA base, Laura is going to copy any information we think the Prof and Colonel Fury should see, she's going to plant a virus Forge worked up for us that'll destroy their entire system, we're going to check for hostages and get them out and then Avalanche is going to bring the place down and Pyro is going to make sure there's nothing left to tie us here. Got all that?"

The team nodded understanding and Logan gave them all an appraising look, "Okay, good. Teams are as follows: Gambit and Pyro and making an entrance and causing a distraction; Avalanche, Rogue, you're sticking with Laura so she can do what she needs to do uninterrupted; and Wonderland, Elf, you're with me."

Alice made a face at Logan's nickname for her, "Like I haven't heard _that_ one before." She muttered.

Lance snorted and squeezed her hand in comfort, "Nervous?" he teased lightly.

Alice gave Lance her best, 'are you a total idiot or just on weekends?' look, "Not even close."

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After they landed the teams split up, Gambit and Pyro taking point to cause a distraction, Laura, Lance and Rogue splitting off towards the security room to get the information they needed, Alice followed Kurt and Logan in the other direction towards where Laura had said the scientists were being kept hostage.

As Laura's group rounded a corner the heard a loud explosion from the direction they'd come from and Laura immediately yanked them through a nearby door as a squad of soldiers headed in the direction they'd come from, a second more and they'd have been caught.

They all breathed a sigh of relief and Lance turned around and immediately wished he hadn't: they were in what appeared to be an autopsy room, complete with a corpse on the table that looked like whoever'd been working on it had run off mid-autopsy (Lance refused to consider whether it had been actual surgery instead) The body, which Lance now realized with a shudder bore more than a passing resemblance to both Laura and Alice, had been left with her torso cut wide open, insides exposed to the world. Was this what could have happened to them if they hadn't escaped? It was a scary thought.

Laura gave the body a glance and then announced that they needed to move on, which Lance and Rogue were more than eager to do.

They reached the control room Laura and Lance and Rogue flanked the door while Laura took a seat at the desk and started hacking, producing several blank disks to copy HYDRA's information to while Lance and Rogue waited and tried not to worry about the rest of their team.

After a few minutes that sounded like a lifetime, Laura held up a disk triumphantly, "Finished!" She stowed that disk and produced a separate, green disk that she slid into the drive, "This is going to wipe everything pertaining to the Weapon-X project and bury their security and communications so deep they'll need to start over on their security. It'll take months to dig out, if they can at all."

Just then all of their earpiece comms were filled with Logan's cursing, "Laura! Gambit and Pyro are getting killed in there- Retrace to their location and backup- Elf and I are on our way too- Wonderland's gonna get the last of the prisoners out."

As Laura started leading them back towards where there distraction was, Lance considered whether leaving Alice alone was a good idea, and his gut said it wasn't, "Laura, which direction is Alice gonna be?"

Laura looked at him incredulously, "Wolverine said our mission was to back up Pyro and Gambit, not rescue her."

Lance stopped, "I'm not asking you to. Just point and tell Logan I disappeared and you don't know where I am."

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	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: OMG. TWO updates in 24 hours? Go me! Sorry about the lack thereof ya'll. I hope this makes up for it, I got on a writing kick today and simply couldn't resist posting both. I'm actually very proud of this chapter, I think it has a lot of action in it (plus a very unexpected guest appearance!) and I hope everyone likes it. As always: Reviews make me update faster!**

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Meanwhile...

Alice and Kurt followed Logan – more specifically his nose - down hallways that grew more and more dank and dark and finally to a solid steel door. Logan turned to Kurt, "Elf, port us to the other side."

Kurt shook his head, "I can't! Zere's no knowing vhat's on ze ozher side."

Alice stepped past the boys and looked at the door, her head cocking to one side as her eyes began to glow solid blue, as did the door. She pushed towards the door with her hands and it bucked inward momentarily, then settled back into it's frame. Alice scowled at it and shoved at it with both hands this time and both men felt the power rush through the room as the door bucked, dented, then bent and finally slammed inward as if a bomb had gone off.

On the other side of the door was another long hallway, this one lined with four cages of men and women in lab coats and scrubs in various states of exhaustion and malnutrition. Logan began slicing open cages, "We're here to help you and get you out of here, alright, I need you all to trust us so we can get you out."

Most nodded, but one man backed away, "N-no. You're just here to take us hostage somewhere else!" He turned and sprinted down the hall as their comm's were filled with Remy's voice, "Wolvie! Mon ami, we're getting killed out here! We're outnumbered and - -" There were popping noises and then a yell and Remy cursing, "Son of a- Pyro's been shot! We need backup! Now!"

Logan growled, "You heard the boy Elf." and Kurt immediately began sprinting down the hall on all fours while Logan looked at Alice, "Think you can get them back to the Blackbird?" Alice nodded and Logan took off after Kurt, shouting into his headset for Laura to back up Gambit and Pyro.

Alice glanced at her charges, "Stay close to the wall and if I say 'get down' or 'run' you need to do it. I can handle myself."

She started down the hall ahead of her hostages and they turned right, then left, reaching a heavy steel door that Alice again tried to force inward, despite the exhaustion creeping at the edges of her consciousness. It took six tries with her powers, the last drove her to her knees with exhaustion, but it gave and her hostages wasted no time racing through it to the outside, while Alice crumpled to all fours and tried not to pass out.

As she slowly pulled herself to her knees a soft voice growled behind her, "Stay down or I'll put a bullet through that pretty head of yours. Alice mentally cursed herself for letting him sneak up on her.

A hand fisted in her hair, yanking her head up so he could see it, and the soldier – whose face she couldn't see in such dim light, dammit! - chuckled to himself, "Well now, this _is_ a surprise. One of the Weapon-X clones now? Thought we'd got rid of you all. Well, I have my orders sweetie and you have to be disposed of."

Alice had closed her eyes and resigned herself to death when the ground started rolling under them. There was a 'pop' from the gun and fire blossomed in her right shoulder as she fell forward. A voice behind them growled, "If you're smart you'll drop the gun right now."

Alice rolled to see Lance advancing as the ground continued to lurch underneath them, waves of seismic energy appearing to emanate from Lance himself as he advanced. The faceless soldier rolled to his feet and, of all things: started _laughing_, "You think you're the only mutants around here? Think again Rockslide."

A wave of earth threw itself at Lance and Alice gasped, recognition slamming into her and leaving her breathless – it was _him_. Rictor. The goddam sonofabitch she _still_ had nightmares about. Well fuck.

Lance growled and the earth underneath Rictor surged into points, attempting to impale him from below, but Rictor just rolled his eyes and opened a crevice beneath Lance, who scrambled not to fall in.

Rictor pushed his hands towards each other, attempting to crush Lance and Alice stumbled to her feet, "No!" She yelled, shoving with her power and breaking Rictor's concentration, "Stay the hell away from him!"

Rictor turned, surprised, and gave her an appraising look, "And who would you be, pet?"

Her eyes flared blue and she punched him in the ribs from fifteen feet away, "What do you _mean_ 'who am I?'" She snarled, "I'm the girl you raped twelve years ago!" She slammed him sideways, nearly knocking him off his feet.

The earth underneath her surged and knocked her on her ass as he made his way towards her, "Sweetie, I fucked a lot of girls in those days. You're gonna have to give me more than that. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time."

He pointed the gun at her again and as he pulled the trigger the ground rolled, causing the shot to go wide and hit her in the thigh instead of the head. Rictor dropped the gun as Alice hit the ground and turned, clearly intending to finish off Lance, who had escaped from the pit and collapsed, exhausted.

Rictor made his way over and patted Lance's face lightly, "C'mon, wake up. I wanna watch the life disappear from your eyes when I snap your neck 'Avalanche'. Any last words?"

Lance mustered everything he had and spit in Rictor's face, "Fuck you."

The crazy smile disappeared in a heartbeat and he grabbed Lance's jaw almost painfully and it was Lance's turn to gulp and prepare himself for death.

A shot rang out and Rictor's hands went slack, Lance felt him crumple to the ground behind and Alice's voice, clearly on the verge of tears, whispered, "You're damn lucky, I wish every single day I could _forget_ _you_."

Alice crumpled to her knees and Lance rolled over with a grunt, hauling himself from under the corpse and crawling over to her. He put himself between her and the body of her tormentor and carefully wrapped his arms around her, "Shhh. You're gonna be okay. He can't ever hurt you again okay?"

When she didn't respond he pulled back to look at her face and cursed when he realized she'd passed out, which shouldn't have surprised him considering the pool of blood under her.

"Shit. Fuck." He growled, taking off the dead man's belt to use as a tourniquet around her leg, which was clearly the more pressing wound, and pressing his comm link, "Avalanche to X-Force, I need Nightcrawler for emergency transpo. Two GSW's, she's in danger of bleeding out."

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	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, sorry again about not updating, I hope this helps a bit. =D Did ya'll like how I brought in Rictor? Was that a helluva twist? Yeah? Good. **

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It was definitely dark. Alice was 99% sure of that. It was definitely dark and she was definitely dizzy.

Oh. Wait.

Alice opened her eyes to bright whiteness and groaned, "Fuckkkkk."

"Alice?" A voice said nearby, "You awake?"

Her vision was filled with familiar brown hair and eyes that were her favorite shade of warm chocolate and she sighed, "Well fuck," she croaked, "I died huh? That's why it's so goddamn bright."

Lance grinned down at her, "Why would you think that?"

She glanced up at him because it was less nauseating than watching the room spin, "Because you neeeever look at _me_ like that, all worried and shlit – shit - never shmile like the shun just came out, so I musht be in heaven." She idly wondered if she should be concerned about that slurring...

Lance chuckled and answered as the door opened behind him and Doctor McCoy entered, "Trust me Alice, if you'd died I would be so far from smiling. You're for sure alive."

"Although you had Mr. Alvers here quite worried my dear, you gave us all a bit of a scare." Hank said over Lance's shoulder.

Alice opened her mouth to respond and then closed it, suddenly fighting a rush of nausea as the room spun even faster. She rolled away from the men and puked over the opposite side of her bed, dry heaving for long moments while gentle, familiar hands pulled her hair away from her face.

She groaned, rubbing her face as Lance eased her back onto the pillows, "What the hell happened?"

"I assume that was a reaction to the anesthesia my dear." Dr. McCoy answered.

She tipped her head back and tried very hard for several minutes to breath in through her nose and out through her mouth while she heard Hank start to clean up the mess. In through her nose and out through her mouth. In through her nose and out through her...

"Lance... Why am I in the infirmary and in need of anesthesia in the first place?" she asked slowly.

Lance somehow managed to look even more concerned, "You got shot twice Ali, by some guys named Rictor who tried to kill us both."

Alice met his eyes, comprehension dawning, "That's right... I... Oh God Lance, did I really...?" She gulped as another wave of nausea hit her and this time Lance thrust a bed pan under her nose in time before pulling back her hair again with the other.

When she'd finished (praying to every deity she could think of that her stomach was empty) he asked if she was alright and she looked up at him, now sitting next to her in the hospital bed, "I killed him didn't I? I shot him in the head and blew his brains out." she said softly, tears running down her cheeks.

Lance pulled her into his chest, gently and murmured, "Yes. You did. But since he was about a second from snapping my neck, I'm not too worried about it."

She nodded into his chest as Hank chose that moment to return, and the subject was dropped as he listened to her heart, checked her injuries and her reflexes while Lance stood by, looking concerned, despite Hank's confirmations that she'd be alright. When he'd finally bustled out, ordering her to rest, that she'd been through quite an ordeal, Lance cleared his throat, "So, we can talk later, I'm gonna let you get some rest, okay?"

He'd started to move towards the door when her voice stopped him, "Lance? Could you... Stay with me? I don't wanna be alone." she whispered softly.

Lance turned and slid into the bed next to her as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he wrapped his arms around her, mindful of her injuries and she curled into him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck.

Lance's head, meanwhile, was on overdrive: why was this okay with him? Not that it shouldn't be, but he hadn't thought about Kitty in the past 24 hours or so – since Ali got shot, really – and shouldn't he feel guilty for that? Because he really didn't. Which was odd in itself. He hadn't touched a woman in two years without a small pang of guilt, but – come to think of it – he'd been pretty touchy-feely with Ali for a couple weeks now and hadn't felt that at all. Huh. He was sure it was supposed to hurt to think of Kitty, because otherwise, well, he might forget her and he didn't want to do that, but he was thinking of her now and _that_ didn't hurt. Actually, he rather thought she'd approve of Alice if she could...

_I believe some cultures call this progress, love, _a voice murmured in his head, startling him.

He lifted his head to glance at the girl he'd _thought_ was asleep, tucked against his chest, who opened one brilliantly blue eye and smirked at him. He rolled his eyes at her and settled down to actually sleep this time.

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**A/N #2: and as Always: REVIEWS ARE AMAZING! SO DO IT!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So this is kinda mostly filler. I got Plot #1 out of the way and I still haven't figured out where this is going next beyond, y'know, actually continuing, but I hope you like it anyway cuz I think this bit is actually pretty decent.**

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"Easy Rabbit," Logan cautioned, "Don't wanna hurt yourself trying to do too much too soon or nothin'"

Alice rolled her eyes, both at her new code name (she'd been outvoted after Lance pointed out that "Rabbit" fit the Alice in Wonderland analogy well, _and _it fit how bouncy and hyper she was.) and at Logan's admonition, "Would _you_ want to hold back after two weeks cooped up, which is four days beyond when I was actually healed by because _by the way_ I happen to have a healing factor, courtesy of your genes, but you and Hank and Lance are so effing "concerned". Overbearing, controlling assholes." she added maturely.

Logan snorted, "You want a challenge huh?"

She gave him her best "duh." look.

He raised his eyebrows right back at her, taking a drag off his cigar before responding, "Fine. Computer: run simulation Delta Gamma Gamma Six Six Epsilon. No countdown, activation immediate."*

Logan and the room disappeared and Alice was now in a maze, the walls made of smooth steel, as Wolverine's voice called out, "You've got eight minutes to reach the center and deactivate it before everything goes, 'Boom'."

Alice sniggered, "'Boom?'"

"That's what the computer says. Guess Gumbo musta reprogrammed it."

"Eight minutes?" She checked.

"Seven minutes, forty six seconds now." He informed her.

She laughed and started running, leaping over a pit that opened up out of nowhere beneath her, "That's cool, I gotta hop in the shower by six thirty to be ready on time."

"It's six twenty. You goin' anywhere special?" He asked casually, as if she weren't dodging lasers and ducking steel tendricals.

Alice paused to _shove_ at a brick that had appeared out of nowhere with her powers before answering, "I've got my first "Official" date with Lance at seven. I'm surprised you haven't heard. I think Jubilee made a newsletter and shoved it under everyone's door."

Logan waited til she'd ducked a mechanical arm and was running again before responding, "Trust me when I say I have much better things for Jubes to do with that mouth of hers than talk."**

She snorted and leaped through a closing wall panel, "And you'll trust me when I tell you to stop right there before I start listing my plans for Lance tonight in detail."

She heard Logan's growl, "I'm gonna have to have a talk with that boy."

"Only if I get to have a nice talk with dear Jubes about how I _really_ feel about my dad dating a woman my age. Capiche?" she retorted, heaving herself over a pile of scrap.

"Rabbit?" Logan inquired.

"Yo pops!"

"Shut up. And duck."

"Oof!"

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If he'd been nervous earlier that week, Lance was now downright terrified. Rogue had stomped over to him and told him she was "goddamn tired" of his and Alice's "weird psuedo-flirting thing" and that he was going out to dinner with her and Remy and Alice (whom the southerner had taking a serious liking to over the past few weeks) and no, there was no getting out of it.

So he was currently shirtless, staring at his (somewhat limited) closet, trying to figure out what shirt to wear on what could be considered his first official date with Alice – and he was nowhere _near_ ready for _First Official_ anything yet, right?

He growled at his closet and entertained himself with a daydream of how he was going to kill Rogue when this was all over and turned away from the closet to find Alice standing in his doorway, barefoot, wet hair, in jeans and a hoodie, smirking at him.

God damn that smirk.

She grinned up at him, "Remy sent me up with this," She offered the dry cleaning bag in her hand, dangling it from one finger, "He said he doubts you have much in the way of going-out-clothes in your closet and he'll be damned if you embarrass him."

Lance reached out and plucked the bag from her fingers and smirked back at her, "Well thank him for looking out for me." He chuckled, pulling the plastic off the clothes as he turned away.

Alice snorted, "Tell him yourself Rocky, I haveta get myself dressed for tonight too, I don't have time to run back downstairs. Besides, you'll probably see him before I do." She turned away from the door and made it two steps down the hall before turning back and calling, "Oh and by the way Rocky: Yes, I do like what I see." She winked over her shoulder at him and continued on her way.

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**A/N: * Cookies if you can name the obscure DC comic this line is from!**

** ** In my universe Wolverine and Jubilee are together, so obviously Jubilee is a little older than she is in the show and their relationship was closer to comic cannon before they admitted they have feelings for each other to match. Not that that's probably ever going to be important knowledge, I just felt like explaining in the interest of avoiding the "OMG! That's gross!" reviews. **

**Also: What do y'all honestly think of Logan and Alice's banter? Does it work? Not work? Sounds odd? Your thoughts please.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So this is yet another fluffy pointless chapter, but I had some fun writing it anyway. This is where the rating goes up to "M". Kinda. Nothing graphic. Just implications... Dirty, dirty implications. Hope you enjoy!**

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She was right, damn her. Lance and Gambit were ready first, waiting in the entryway for Alice and Rogue to emerge.

Remy was in a deep maroon/red button-down and black dress pants, while Lance was in a black button-down with silvery pinstriping and a charcoal grey suit jacket over dark jeans: they were pretty proud of themselves for cleaning up so well for their girls.

Dammit, when had she become "his girl"?

Rogue emerged next in a deep green dress over black tights and elbow length gloves, which meant they were all waiting for Alice when she emerged.

Lance had barely begun to muse on feeling like he was Jack waiting for Rose to come down the staircase (and alternatively why he remembered that much of the stupid movie?) before she was there, in a baby blue floral summer dress over dark grey tights and grey anklet boots that showed off her (amazing) legs and the leather jacket she'd been wearing when they met, at which point all thought ceased to function and he just stared.

Remy patted his shoulder, "Down boy. Let's go take these two lovely ladies to dinner, non?"

Lance shook himself in time to offer Alice his arm, "Shall we?"

Alice grinned up at him, "Of course we shall."

Remy chuckled and tossed Lance the keys to his car, "Rougey and I are gonna take de bike, you two wanna take Belle?"

Lance sputtered, _Belle_ was Remy's 1965 Chevy Camero, painted black with pink pinstripe detailing, he'd never let _anyone_ drive Belle, not even Rogue, "For real?"

Remy chuckled, "D'accord mon ami. Yes for real. We'll meet you two a la restaurante, oui?"

Lance was too bust sputtering to answer, so Alice did, "Merci beaucoup Remy. Il est tres adorable quand il ne peut pas former des mots, n'est-ce pas?" she asked as she tugged Lance out the door.

"You speak French too?" He asked and she plucked the keys from his hand.

"Of course I do."

Lance paused, looking from Alice to the car as she unlocked it, "Should I be scared of your driving?"

"Probably."

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She turned out to be an excellent (if slightly fast) driver, though they didn't beat Remy and Rogue to the restaurant, which was a tiny Italian place they almost couldn't find, but the food was excellent Lance was finding, as Alice leaned over while he was talking to Remy to steal the last meatball from his spaghetti.

He hooked her fork with his, "Nice try, but I'm not _that_ unobservant."

She laughed, "Darn. Do I get points for the attempt?"

The conversation flowed and Lance felt like he and Alice kept getting sidetracked and having conversations completely separate from the other two, not that they seemed to mind. After dinner they parted ways with the other couple, and as they made their way to the car Alice stumbled in her heels on the gravel parking lot and he reached out and caught her, looping an arm around her waist before she fell over and they were both giggling like little kids at that like it was some inside joke of theirs.

Her eyes met his and they both paused, laughter dying as they both realized how tightly they were pressed together and Lance slowly, giving her time to pull away, leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. This kiss was different from when she'd kissed him on the balcony: that had been both a warning and a promise, full of sparks, while this was soft and slow, a full blown inferno building under their skin.

They finally broke for air, panting and he continued kissing every inch of bare skin he could reach as he backed her towards the car, finally pressing her into the back bumper and then lifting her to sit on the trunk as their lips met again. He curled one hand around her knee and wrapped the other arm around her waist, while she had one hand tangled in his hair and the other gripping a fistful of his shirt.

He pulled away again, cupping her face, "Tell me when to stop."

Alice yanked on his hair, "And if I don't want you to stop?" she asked, staring him down.

He kissed her softly again, "Then at least let me drive us home?" he asked, "If that's what you want then I'd rather it not happen in the back seat of Remy's car."

Alice smiled and nodded, "My place or yours?" she snorted at her own joke as he helped her down off the car.

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Hours later...

Lance smirked down at the brunette curled up next to him, who opened one blue eye up at him and rolled it as he captured her lips with his before moving to her collarbone, kissing his way all the way across and over her shoulders, "Again? You're insatiable." she informed him.

"Mmhmm." He kissed his way down between her breasts, shoving the blankets elsewhere when he reached her stomach.

"Well," she mused, "As long as you do that thing you did earlier, it'd be ok-ah!" she cried out.

Lance raised himself up on his elbows, "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Alice narrowed her eyes at him, "Nothing. Nevermind. Finish what you were doing. You should know better than to keep a lady waiting."

He chuckled, "Lady huh?"

"Don't be an asshole."

"Of course not."

"Lance!"

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

**Now be a good reader and drop me a review! Please?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: More fluffy cuteness, sorry. I WILL be getting to a plot eventually, I'm just taking my time getting there. Not sure how I feel about this chapter, so drop me a review with your thoughts. Enjoy!**

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The next morning...

Alice rolled over in bed, stretching languidly, before she was conscious enough to realize that the warm body that she'd fallen asleep next to was no longer present. Huh.

She pulled herself out of bed, uncaring of her nakedness and made her way to Lance's closet and selected one of his t-shirts to wear, at least to get from his room to hers and put on pants. She tugged it on, reveling in it's well-worn softness, the smell of his cologne mixing with the Institute's detergent and some other smell to create the scent she associated solely with Lance.

She gathered last night's clothes, debated making the bed before remembering it hadn't been made when they'd arrived last night, and slipped out towards her own room in the other wing.

She'd barely made it halfway before a snide voice accosted her, "Doing the Walk of Shame I see."

Alice turned to face Tabitha Smith, recently returned to the X-men, and having been apparently very close with Kitty, she'd made her dislike for Alice trying to "replace" her very clear. Alice rather thought she had a thing for Lance and was jealous.

She grinned at Tabitha, "No shame here, sweetie, just headed back to my room to get changed."

"No shame on your end huh? What about Lance? He sure blew outta here quick this morning." Tabby said, following Alice down the hall.

Alice rolled her eyes at the obvious interfering, "He's not stupid, Tabs, he'll be back tonight." _He will be if I have to drag his ass back myself, _she added mentally.

"You really think that don't you? You think you're fuckin' _special_. The he has some stupid affection for you, that you'll replace Kitty with all of us, that you'd give him a reason to come back. Newsflash whore, the boy's a runner, he'll run from every commitment ever invented and you're not fucking special enough to come back for."

Alice whirled, shoving Tabitha against the wall, "Now you listen to me Tabitha, and listen good because I'm not gonna fucking repeat myself here: I do NOT want to replace Kitty, I get that she was a huge part of all of your lives and I'm not stupid enough to think I can replace her. However I _do_ happen to think I'm damn special enough for that stupid boy to come home for. I don't know what your issue is here, but back the fuck off before I have to do something I'll regret." she released Tabby and continued to her room, "Besides, he hasn't even left mansion property, so I have no idea why you're so concerned if he's 'coming back.'"

She slipped into her room and sighed, she really didn't like confrontations with people she was supposed to be teammates with.

Deciding not to think on it, Alice got dressed in jeans, flats and Lance's shirt and followed the bond they'd formed outside and down past the gazebo, finally finding him kneeling in front of a pair of headstones, "You'd love her Kit, she's firey and tough and funny. I think you two would be the best of friends if you were around."

Lance finally noticed Alice's approach, and stood, "Oh, hey Alice, I was just... I was planning on making it back before you woke up so you wouldn't think I was just bailing after - after last night. I just... needed to talk to Kit."

He looked surprised as she smiled and gently deposited a handful of daisies next to the roses he'd brought, "I never thought you had."

She moved to stand beside him, letting him take her hand and gazing at the words engraved on the granite stone, "This is the girl I was telling you about Kit. This is Alice. I'm kinda crazy about her." he smiled briefly at her before continuing, "And I just.. I don't want to feel like I'm betraying you and Carmen by finding someone else, you know? So can you... I dunno, give me a sign here? That it's okay with you? Something?"

A gentle breeze blew through the clearing, pushing one of the roses from Lance's bouquet into Alice's, and they both stared for a second, before glancing at each other and smiling, Lance wrapped an arm around her and they made their way back up towards the house.

"So, breakfast?" Alice offered, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Most definitely." Lance chuckled, before stopping and pulling her to face him before he kissed her gently, "Thanks for coming to find me."

She smiled up at him, "Anytime."

"So this breakfast..." He grinned down at her, pulling her closer, "Think it can wait a little while? I'd kinda like to _celebrate_ Kitty's approval of us first."

She giggled, rolling her eyes good- naturedly, "What kind of celebrating did you have in mind?"

Lance leaned in so his lips were inches from hers, "I'm thinking you, me and that empty hot tub downstairs sounds good."

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Fair warning: I packed a LOT into this chapter. It's intense. I think.**

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Unfortunately, the goods times rarely last long for the X-men, as illustrated one balmy summer day when everyone was relaxing in the rec room after a Danger Room session. Alice and Lance were playing pool against Remy and Marie, Bobby and John were having their asses handed to them at Halo: Reach by Jubilee, Logan was playing chess with Hank while Sam looked on and Ororo and Scott were attempting to find something worthwhile on TV.

Scott flipped to the next channel, a news station and froze, "Reports are pouring in from all over the world. This is Trish Tilby for New York Channel 5 News, where we've just received word that the island nation of Genosha has been bombed in a terrorist attack. Again, this late breaking story: Genosha has been bombed."

Everyone froze for a few seconds and then converged on the TV, silently crowding around as Trish came back on, "I'm now getting word that we've received video footage of the attack."

Grainy video footage filled the screen, the view appeared to be from somewhere on the island, watching as overhead a small cluster of red Sentinals appeared, each of their chests opening to drop missiles on the island below. The bombs hit the earth, exploding and sending shockwaves of dust and debris that obscured the view before the footage cut off.

"Our sources report that the damage is nationwide on the island, the US military _is_ responding with other members of the United Nations to aid any survivors."

"No." Ororo whispered, "All those innocent people."

Logan stood abruptly and stormed out of the room and they all flinched at the sounds of breaking glass and furniture out in the hallway. Laura had been on the island, visiting the twins, who she'd become friends with following Apocalypse. Jubilee rose and made her way out with silent tears streaming own her face, no one heard what was said, but the sounds of Logan's loss of control quieted.

Within an hour the President was releasing a statement on the tragedy, "My fellow Americans, I cannot begin tell you how much the events of today sadden me. What has happened in Genosha today will not go unpunished, we _will_ discover the culprits and they _will_ be held responsible for this act of terror. My preliminary reports are showing that close to eighty percent of Genosha's sixteen million people are casualties of this terrible act. Despite these overwhelming statistics, we will not rest until every survivor has been found, until every lost life has been remembered. I know that many of you out there had family, friends and loved ones on the island and I beg of you to resist the urge to find retribution for yourselves, we will achieve justice together, and I hope that you will all allow the genocide that has happened today to bring us together as a worldwide community. We can not, we will not allow this to divide us. We will not let these terrorists win. Thank you."

Lance stared at the TV, "Pietro. Pietro and Wanda were on that island. And Fred. We hadn't talked in... Forever, but they were, they were family."

Alice nodded and squeezed his hand, trying convey without words the comfort he needed.

Ororo was nearby sobbing in Hanks arms, inconsolable as John patted her back gently; Evan and the Morlocks had recently left their sewer home for Genosha's Hammer Bay

Bobby was numb and couldn't seem to look away as more and more video of the disaster poured into the news station.

As Rogue's knees gave under her Remy gently lowered her to sit on the floor, where she whispered, "What do you think the odds are of Kurt being in that twenty percent?" Kurt had flown out with the Morlocks, helping them settle in and taking the opportunity to visit Wanda.

The sad look in Remy's eyes was enough to answer her question and she let out a soft whimper and ran for the garbage can, heaving up her lunch and fighting sobs.

Alice felt everyone's despair and pain and fought to keep her mental shields up, even as she felt them start to give under the heavy cocktail of everyone's pronounced emotions, thoughts filtered in more strongly than she'd ever felt, emotions pressed on her until they threatened to consume her. She whimpered softly and Lance immediately focused on her, "Alice? Baby? What's wrong?"

Her face contorted on pain, she pressed her fingertips to her temples and tried to focus as the books on the bookcase behind her rose into the air, "Shields... Gone. Can't focus. Everyone's pain." Her eyes flashed open and to Lance's shock they were solid blue and bored into him, "Make it stop Lance. Make it stop!" She begged even as the people around them started taking notice that everything not nailed down had started floating.

Lance gently cupped her face in his hands, "Shhh. You're okay Ali. Focus on me, 'kay?" Behind him he was vaguely aware of Remy taking charge and herding everyone out of the room until he and Lance were the only ones left.

Alice shook her head, "There's so much pressure Lance. For so long. It wants out. It needs to get out. I _have _to let it out. Before it kills me."

Alice's legs gave out and Lance lowered her to her knees before he crouched in front of her, "What do you mean, Alice, what pressure?"

She panted, fighting off whatever it was causing her such pain, "I th- I thought I could handle it. The headaches, the lack of control. But it's built up and built up and now it wants _out_ and I can't hold it back. Oh God."

She was yanked out of Lance's hands and everything in the room began rising towards the ceiling and started spinning, creating a telekinetic tornado around Alice. Lance looked up at her, "Alice, you've got this. Fight it."

All of a sudden everything froze for a split second, before a wave of power burst out of her, throwing the furniture, Remy and Lance into the walls, hard.

Lance groaned, stumbling to his feet as the debris started to spin again, faster this time and Alice screamed into his head, _Out! Go! Can't hold it back... Don't want to.. hurt you._

"Time to go!" Remy yelled above the tornado, grabbing Lance around the middle and yanking him out. Lance shoved at him, fighting to get back to her, "Let go! Let me fucking go Remy!" He yelled as Rogue slammed the doors against a second wave of power that caused the wall around the door to crack.

As soon as everyone tried to leave the building and his feet were on the ground, Lance tried to throw himself at the door and was instead hauled outside by Wolverine. It felt like the world slowed as he tried to escape, to save her like he hadn't saved Kitty...

And then the front of the institute, where the rec room had been, exploded in a concentrated burst of power that threw everyone to the ground.

It was silent.

In a sudden burst of energy Lance shoved himself away from Logan and sprinted for the heart of the destruction, completely unaware that the earth itself was trembling in his fear.

He froze at the edge of the destruction, in a six foot perfect circle free of debris at the very center of what had once been the rec room, a petite figure in blue was crumpled on the ground. Lance wasn't even aware his feet were moving until he'd fallen to his knees beside her, gently sliding to fingers under her neck to check for a pulse. He choked out a sob, unaware of the tears sliding down his face when he felt her heartbeat, strong and slow under his fingers.

Tiny, pale fingers curled themselves around his and her eyes opened, once again blue irises with white sclera, and she coughed weakly.

Lance cupped her face gently, "God, I'm so glad you're okay, baby. Don't you _ever_," he growled, "Scare me like that again."

She coughed again, "Oh sure, it's al- always about you."

He leaned down and kissed her softly, "I love you so much, Alice. So so much." Lance whispered against her hair.

She squeezed his hand and whispered out her own, "Love you too," before she passed out in his arms for the second time in six months.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

**A/N: Anyone ready to kill me yet? I know, I know, I crammed a lot in there and it's a little hectic. The power surge was a surprise to me too, but I like the way it came out. Don't worry, you'll get your answers for who survived Genosha next chapter. Of the six I mentioned that we KNOW were on the island, I'm killing off at least three, possibly four, but I'm also planning on using it as a platform to bring in new (to the Evo-verse) characters. I know at least one of the five thats not dying, but drop me a review and let me know who else you'd like to see live and I'll consider it.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So this has taken forever and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's the best it's gonna get right now, so enjoy!**

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While Alice was unconscious it was decided that a group from the X-men would be sent to Genosha for aid, while others would remain behind to care for Alice and the students. For obvious reasons Cecelia Reyes decided to remain behind while Beast and Moira McTaggert went with the team to Genosha. Because the nature of his powers enabled him to stabilize earth as well as cause earthquakes, Lance went as well, before they left he pulled aside Scott Summers, who would remain behind, delegating leadership to the team to Wolverine,

"Look, I know we're supposed to hate each other for whatever reason, but we're not in high school any more, and we need to put this bullshit behind us because I'm leaving and I need to be able to trust you to take care of Alice while I'm gone."

Scott met his eyes and there was a moment of understanding between them, one leader to another, "You have my word that she'll be taken care of." he replied, offering his hand.

Lance clasped his hand and added, "Just... Don't let her wake up alone, okay? She'll freak out and probably hurt herself again."

"Done."

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The Blackbird landed in Hammer Bay several hours later and they all marveled at the destruction that had been wreaked here, and the lack of care: They were the only group that had shown up with aid.

The X-men got to work.

Wolverine set up a command post in a largely undamaged grocery store, delegating Rogue and Gambit to start distributing supplies, Jubilee began triaging the injured for Elixer and they began directing the Red Cross and military aid that was _now_ coming in.

The rest of them worked their way around the city, searching for survivors and pulling bodies from the rubble. Lance himself was all over the place, using his powers to stabilize the ground beneath buildings and create supports so that others from the team could enter.

He was radioed by Emma to come help create an entryway into what was formerly the "palace" (Really more of a single-family mansion) right on the edge of the harbor, she sounded odd and he wondered why.

As he jogged up he saw why: Emma was standing with a silver-haired man in a tattered violet cape and his stomach dropped out. _Shit_.

"Lance," Emma began, "The place is so unstable, I'm worried your powers would bring it down entirely. I'm scanning for signs of life now, if I find any can you take care not to bring it down on them?"

"Of course."

Magneto looked at him appraisingly, "Avalanche. How long it's been my son."

Lance nodded in response as Emma gasped, "There's someone alive in there."

Magneto looked away, staring out at the harbor sadly, "I suppose it was too much to expect that all of my children survived. That one did is the greatest blessing I can hope for."

Lance froze, his heart lurching as realization set in: One. That meant that either Pietro or Wandad was... He couldn't think about that now.

"Where are they?" He asked Emma instead.

"Feels like the basement." She answered smoothly.

"Easy enough." Lance rubbed his hands together nervously before placing them on the ground in front of the door and asking the earth to _please_ make him and entryway that wouldn't hurt the person in the basement. The ground shifted slightly before the concrete of the house gave way to a tunnel of sorts into the depths of the house.

Lance pulled his hands back and stood, but the tunnel began to collapse into itself and he lunged for the doorway, placing a hand on the wall, "I think it's too unstable to stand on it's own, so I'd guess I have to stay in contact with the house for it to stay up." He leaned on the house to maintain contact long enough to pull his glove off and then made his way into the tunnel, trailing a hand on the wall as he went.

Eventually his tunnel led him to where the stairs were and he made his way down and into the basement, which had seemingly also caved in, save for a miracle of a space around the base of the stairs... Where a silver-haired body was crumpled.

"Shit. Pietro." Lance whispered, kneeling by his former comrade and checking for a pulse and breathing a sigh of relief upon finding one.

The speedster groaned and shifted, "'the hell happened?" and blinked his eyes open, "Shit. Lance is here. Must be Hell."

Lance chuckled, "Nice try dude, but no. You're alive, unfortunately."

"And feeling like shit to boot." Pietro added, sitting up, "So I repeat, what happened? Wanda lose control and bring the house down again?"

Lance sighed, convinced his friend was just banged up, and helped him stand, "Piet... Genosha as bombed. By Sentinals. Almost everything's gone."

Pietro faced him, shock and pain straining his face, "Dad?"

Lance nodded, "Outside."

"Wanda? Lorna? Fuzzy?"

Lance shook his head, "We haven't found them yet and if they were in this house... Emma says you were the only sign of life."

Pietro choked back a sob that was clearly fighting to break free, "Lorna was out, but Wanda and Fuzzy were home. They're... Fuck they're..."

Lance nodded again, "Yeah. I'm so sorry Piet." he gently placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in comfort.

"No you're fucking not!" Pietro snapped, yanking away, "You've never lost most of your family in one swoop!"

Lance growled, following Pietro up the stairs, "Right Piet, 'cause I totally didn't lose my fiance and baby to a senseless act of violence or anything. I have no fucking clue what you're talking about." He threw his hands up in the air, frustrated, and then had to slap one back on the wall to maintain control as a breeze blew in the tunnel and his old friend was gone.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

**I just re-watched the Dark Knight and I think that may be where Pietro's angsty "You don't know what I've lost!" bitch-fest is coming from. **

**All I can ask is for reviews Please!**


	15. Chapter 15

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Alice groaned at how bright the infirmary's lights were, it was enough to make anyone nauseous.

Not quite as nauseous as the last time she woke up here however, thank God for small favors.

"Morning, Sunshine." A voice that wasn't Lance's said from the seat next to her bed, and she turned her head to find Scott Summers of all people.

"Summers, the hell are you doing here?" she asked, shoving her way into a sitting position and marveling at how much better she felt.

Scott propped a foot on her bed and chuckled, "Always jump straight to the point, huh?"

Alice raised her eyebrows at him and he answered the previous question, "Lance had to go help with the recovery effort in Genosha, I'm sort of useless outside of battle so he asked me to stay and keep an eye on you."

"He asked _you_ to keep an eye on me." She stated, unconvinced.

Scott raised an eyebrow at her, "We reached an understanding before he left."

"That you'd keep an eye on me and he wouldn't bury you at the center of the earth when he gets back?" She offered, grinning cheekily.

"Something like that. How're you feeling?"

She ran a hand through her messy hair and actually took stock of how she felt, "Pretty great actually. I feel like there was this pressure I didn't even know existed until it's gone. It's kinda cool. Like I could walk on air." she grinned, looking down at him.

"Um Alice? Did you, um, used to float?" Scott asked awkwardly.

She glanced down, realized she was hovering a foot above the bed, yelped and thumped ungracefully back down onto the bed, glancing up at her team leader ruefully, "No. I've never been able to move anything living. Emma said it might have something to do with battling kinetic energy or something, I wasn't entirely listening."

"Well. This'll be interesting."

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Meanwhile, in Genosha, Lance was in the X-men's converted hospital, sitting on a gurney arguing with Moira over his health.

"I'm fine Moira! You need the beds, I promise I'll stay hydrated and rest, but I need to go help!"

Moira scowled, hands on her hips, "Excuse me? How'm I supposed to believe that ye'll take care of yerself _now_? Ye were supposed to originally and ye didn't and now ye're borderin' on exhaustion! Ye've let yerself get dehydrated and ye passed out once, I'll not have it happen again."

"No, really, I feel so much better and I know you need the beds anyway, so I'll just go help Beast and Logan with triage. I'll stay here where you guys can keep an eye on me and if I'm tired I'll rest. Promise." Lance argued back.

"Ye're going on three days with no sleep lad, ye need to rest." Moira informed him stubbornly.

"And I _can_ rest. In triage." Lance said, swinging his legs off the gurney.

Unfortunately for Lance, when he tried to stand the world started spinning, his stomach rolled and his legs attempted to give out under him.

"Nice try laddie, but ye're going home as soon as I can manage it."

"Absolutely not. You can't waste fuel and people to take me home when there're people here who need it more." Lance snapped, finally hauling himself back into bed.

"Oh yes, because the world revolves around ye! We're planning on taking the ones most in need of help back to the institute anyway. We've been trying to narrow down who's going besides ye and Laura." Moira informed him, exasperated.

"Then I don't need to go. You need the room for others." Lance refused, crossing his arms over his chest.

Moira's eyes softened as she took in the little boy he still very much was, "Laddie, Laura and Pietro need ye to go as much as ye do. He's a mess and if she wakes up mid-flight not knowing anyone and in pain it'll be bad." when he still glared at her stubbornly she added her ace in the hole, "Plus I'm sure that lassie that's waiting on ye at home'll be happy to see ye."

Lance threw up his hands in defeat, "Fine! I have a feeling you'd just knock me out and stick me on the plane anyway even if I refused."

"Got that right kid," Logan grunted, approaching with a wheelchair, "Get in. We just got clearance from the FAA and an Air Force guard to get you all home alright, but you're leaving now."

Lance's face paled, he hated flying and now he just knew he'd end up spending the whole flight throwing up. Fuckin' perfect.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Alice was using her newfound powers to dust the top shelves in the library when Scott trotted in, grinning up at her, they'd become fast friends over the last few days and she looked at him like a sort of brother, "I know something you don't know." he sing-songed up at her.

Alice rolled her eyes and hovered over him, "Wrong thing to say to a telepath, bro."

He snickered, "But then what would be the fun in that?"

Alice reached out a hand and started to lift him into the air and he caved, "Alright! I'll tell you when you put me down!"

She deposited Scott on the floor and waited, hands on hips.

"We just got a radio call from Storm: they're flying in tonight with a group of survivors, including Laura and Pietro, _and_ some exhausted volunteers, including a certain boyfriend of yours," he grinned at her, then glanced at his watch, "ETA: About eight minutes."

Alice squealed, "No way! Ah!" and sprinted for the Blackbird hangar.

Eight minutes later Scott's headset in the hangar crackled and he opened the hangar doors, admitting the Blackbird.

Alice watched as an exhausted-looking Storm exited along with a crowd of world-weary mutants that Scott and Cecelia were there to greet and begin guiding upstairs to baths, food and bed. At the back of the group a tall, skinny, white-haired man was helping a gaunt Lance off the plane.

Alice wasn't even aware she was running until Lance gently pushed his friend away and caught her up in his arms and for the first time in days Alice felt whole. She was lifted, spun and well-kissed.*

Lance finally deposited her on the ground, cupping her face, "God I missed you. How are you feeling? Is your head okay? No more overloads?"

She shook her head, curling fingers into his hair, "I'm fine baby. Are you okay? You look like shit."

Pietro snorted, for what Lance was well-aware was the first time he's so much as cracked a grin in the days since his twin's death, and qupiied, "Yeah, well, working yourself into exhaustion'll do that."

Alice stepped back and glared at him, "Exhaustion. Really. Well then we can save your "welcome home" celebration for later, because you are eating a decent meal and going straight to bed."

Lance, knowing full well what kind of celebration she meant, whimpered, "But Alice, baby..."

She turned to face him, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked his face down to hers, "You know exactly how to take care of herself, and I _know_ you know better than to work yourself to exhaustion when there's work to be done, Mister. You are no good to me dead or in the hospital, so learn to take care of yourself or so help me God I'll reprogram you myself." She snarled at him, reminding him that, adorable as she may be, she was also a miniature Wolverine too.

As Alice turned and stamped off, muttering about 'idiot boys' Pietro turned to Lance with a grin, "Damn. And I thought Kitty had you whipped."

Lance shoved Pietro in retaliation and then had to grab his friend for support when he lost his already shaky balance. Pietro ignored his lapse in strength and marched them both towards the door, where Alice had stopped to talk to Storm. She turned when the boys reached them, clearly havig gotten over her irritation quickly, and slid an arm around Lance, taking over for Pietro and leading him to the elevators, "Storm was telling me about a few certain heroic acts of yours over there."

Lance waved it off, slightly embarrassed, as she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, "Well, it's heroic to me," she informed him, "And since you're a hero today I may consider us sleeping in the same room tonight."

He leaned down to kiss her back, murmuring, "You caving on your punishment so soon?"

Alice snorted, "No. Sleeping is ALL we will be doing, get that straight right now."

As she shoved him onto the elevator Lance laughed, "You say that _now_."

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

**A/N: I feel like this may have been my longest chapter to date. Cool. Leave reviews and let me know how you like it. =)**

*** Cookies if you know where this sentence is from! **


	16. Chapter 16

Folks, I'm not quite sure where to take this story next and I either need ideas or to tie this up in one final chapter.

I will gladly continue if people are interested in it, and I'm sure I can come up with something if there's a serious need to know what's next, but I'm not sure my heart will be in it.

I should have either the next chapter or the epilogue out by next week sometime, but regardless I will NOT leave it stuck right where it is. That kinda thing drives me nuts. IF I decide not to continue I will tie it up as neatly as possible under the circumstances. It will NOT be up for adoption, sorry.

I appreciate everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited this story, you guys ROCK, you are the reason I write and I promise every review/favorite/etc makes my day every time.

I have ideas for a Gambit-x-? (Rogue? Kitty? OC?) Story that I'm planning on starting soonish, which should be a nice change for me. Although my love for Lance may have me change that. Lol.

Review/message with any ideas you have for this or whether you'd prefer I stop here.

Peace and love!

DemonPixie 3


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